Market report: The Irish stock market closed lower yesterday in what dealers described as "the first really quiet day this year".
Most of the leading stocks closed flat or lower as investors paused for breath after a strong start to 2006. A flat performance on Wall Street, ahead of an expected rise in US interest rates today, allied to a lack of domestic news, added to the market's lethargy.
Bank of Ireland's plans to issue $400 million (€330 million) in securities, bolstering its tier 1 capital, on top of last week's $800 million issue, failed to do much for the share price, which closed just one cent higher at €14.10.
Meanwhile, AIB lost nine cent to €18.45 while Anglo Irish Bank was off 18 cent at €12.92.
Only Irish Life & Permanent bucked the downward trend, closing 11 cent higher at €17.51 as NCB reiterated its "buy" rating on the stock and its share price target of €20.20.
The broker believes Irish Life & Permanent is well-positioned to benefit from measures expected in the Finance Bill to encourage SSIA account holders to move their money into pension schemes.
The construction sector was also hit by the weaker trend yesterday with CRH shedding 27 cent to €25.80, Kingspan off 14 cent to €11.36 while Grafton gave up 15 cent to €9.65 despite Davy repeating its share price target of €11.30 for the stock.
Shares in IAWS slipped by four cent to €13.46 after the company's annual meeting, despite upbeat comments from chairman Denis Lucey that the group was happy with its performance over the first five months of its financial year.
Independent News & Media gave up three cent to €2.69 as investors worried about the impact on the group of the arrival of the Daily Mail in the Irish market.
Ahead of the release of full-year results today, Elan shares added five cent to €11.90 in Dublin, while in New York they had added five cents to $14.60 by the time the Irish market closed.
